We need slacktivists

These are most of the barriers to treatment.

• Awareness of the illness
• Financial costs
• Occupational difficulties
• Social stigma
• Psychiatric illness
• MISCONCEPTION: Asymptomatic disease vs. symptomatic treatment contrast

Remember when people got irritated and the idea of raising awareness not doing shit?

Well here with Hep C (HCV), raising awareness through testing is the biggest barrier.

Raising awareness about how HCV works and treating others with compassion can lower the stigma.

Raising awareness for the financial costs has create a surge of lawsuits and governments demanding fair prices for over a hundred million people worldwide.

Raising awareness is prompting the US government to start to critically look beyond costs.

This is the area where YOU CAN make a difference with awareness.

We need slacktivism, we need clicktivists.

#hepaware

Bad news for people who like good news

With my present degree of liver damage, my cirrhosis is beyond repair. What's left of my liver is riddled with an ever voracious virus. My body writhes in pain from the ever-worsening side effects. The referred pain in my shoulder has become a now constant reminder as I attempt to sleep.

With each failure I come to new introspection.

To count I have failed:

Interferon and Ribavirin twice.

Interferon, Ribavirin and Incivek (the triple cocktail which cured my mother).

Sovaldi and Olysio.

And now, I have failed Harvoni.

As an aside, I want to explain that I am not typical. If you have Hep C, do not expect these results, know that I am the extreme.

I have struggled to find the words to truly encapsulate the fear, dread, and ultimately sadness that have overcome me. So please forgive my brevity.

While on Sovaldi and Olysio, I cleared the virus, but it came back with a vengeance. Harvoni allowed me to clear the virus faster, and for longer, however it too failed me.

I have escaped death a handful of times from complications as a result of my decompensated liver.

But here I am. I shall not die so easily. We are all endowed with the insatiable human spirit, whose passion shall not be relinquished to something so small.



And now I must pause, before I look forward.
So that I may know my bearing, to find a suitable course.

More blood tests are coming to closer analyze my virus.
For what is a patient without patience?

I found out the results yesterday, and as I've slowly told people I am glad to say I am truly blessed to have such great friends and family.

I am exceptional.

To quote the late John Paul Jones:


"I have not yet begun to fight."

Numbers and one last bottle.

This is the last bottle of pills of Harvoni I will take.

In 28 days i will be finished with my fifth (and hopefully final treatment.)

Over the course of my life i have spent One year, six months, two weeks, and three days undergoing a treatment for Hepatitis C(HCV) I will have spent 23 days in the hospital, for HCV related issues that either nearly killed me, or as of a result of complications, nearly killed me. I will have spent a total of 14 hours undergoing imaging, 8 hours under the knife (surgery), and had over 200 visits to the doc.

In 28 days, i will be finished with this treatment. In four weeks, i will be able to check the second 0 off my list, and all that's left is SVR 12 in August. With three 0s in a row i will be cured.

The side effects of Harvoni were nothing in comparison the my previous treatments. The ease of a oral once per day pill makes this treatment something i hope is readied for use for children with HCV soon. Presently the first treatment (Peg-Interferon+Ribavirin) i went on, is the one available to children save special cases.

With only 28 days left, This will probably be the longest month I've had in years.


In celebration, tomorrow I will be doing a vlog, as it's been a while since I've done one.